Creative Ways to Organize Craft Supplies and Paint

Finding creative ways to organize craft supplies and paint is not easy to do, especially if you’re really limited on storage space and have a ton of crafting supplies. I came up with a few solutions in my own space that I wanted to share with you today that I hope will give you some ideas of ways to maximize space and creatively store all of your craft supplies. Really, today’s post is universal and could work with anything that you want to organize.

I enclosed the open bookshelves because I wanted to have one cabinet for my craft supplies and another cabinet for my daughter’s own craft/doll/activity stuff. Since this space is a multi-purpose family room/office/craft space, I didn’t want any clutter of the supplies out in the open. Enclosing the shelves allowed us to not have to “style” the shelves, so they would look pretty out in the open. This way, we could really get creative and maximize every square inch of storage space, because as you’ll see, we really needed it.

Here is what we did to the inside of each cabinet.

My craft/paint cabinet:

My daughters craft/doll/activity cabinet:

Whether you have open shelving to enclose, bookshelves or a cabinet to dedicate to organizing your craft supplies and paint, the storage pieces that we used and the way we organized could be done almost anywhere. If you have a closet, smaller cabinet or even an armoire, you could implement these same pieces.

We used these ClosetMade shoe storage pieces as our main storage pieces in each of the cabinets. These cube shoe storage pieces are one of the best products hands down for organizing. I use them throughout my home, closets and cabinets and they stack, which is even better. Being able to separate and compartmentalize stuff makes such a big difference and these are perfect!

These cube storage pieces measure 19.38 inches high- by 24.13 inches wide by- 11.63 inches deep and they fit perfect into our cabinet. They could also have been stored vertical as well, since we had adjustable shelves in the cabinet. Also, these cubes can be customized and the openings can be made bigger by not inserting slates during assembly (I did that in the middle sections).

The inside of the cubes are perfect for separating and storing craft supplies, paint, etc..

For plastic storage pieces that slide ride into each cube, I used pantry/refrigerator storage bin pieces that I picked up at the clearance section of TJ Maxx, Ross and Home Goods. These bins are always in the clearance section and I also shared a post a few months ago here showing how I use the bigger ones in our closets.

I just went with my tape measure and measured at the store to make sure the bins would fit.

When incorporating these shoe storage pieces into cabinets for storage, think about ways you can maximize space and use the negative space to create custom storage for other items that won’t fit into the smaller bins. For instance, I placed the two large storage pieces in the center of the cabinet so that I could create custom storage on both sides of the pieces for my paint pads, canvases and taller paint containers.

Once you have everything in place, look for areas where there is still wasted space. In my cabinet, I noticed that I had a large area of wasted space that I could utilize between the top of my canvases and shelf. I slipped in hanging under shelf wire bin for more storage.

The inside of cabinet doors are also a great place to add additional storage for clipboards, scissors, hole punches, etc… Also, cork boards and magnetic boards are narrow enough that you can add those as well for keeping up with related papers.

For my cabinet, I use my cork board for paint color combinations and notes.

On the other door, I hung my clip board, scissors and hole punch using command strips. (I used velcro for my yardstick).

I’m obsessed with these new Command Wire Hooks that work so well for almost anything and they can hold up to two pounds. They were just what I needed for the door.

If you don’t have a cabinet or shelving to create storage for your craft/hobby supplies and paint, we also have two of these awesome craft storage carts that we store right inside the door to our attic (the door next to the cabinet) for our additional craft’s.

The cart is really easy to assemble and it’s so nice just to roll it to wherever we’re working and have our supplies right there. Really, this cart could be used to store just about anything and can slide right into a corner, closet or attic.

As you look at ways to maximize space in a cabinet, closet or something else, play around with all your items first and see how you can maximize every square inch. As you look at my cabinet below, you can see, I took advantage of every inch and by doing this, I’m sure I double or even tripled the amount of available storage. It takes a little extra time but in the long run, it makes such a big difference.

I hope there is something here today to help you organize any craft supplies or paint that you may be struggling with. By the way, if you’re looking for more ways to get creative and organize in narrow spaces, you can see more of our narrow storage projects here.

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